Newspaper Articles

Hinton Daily News
May 4, 1960

Senator John Kennedy Visits In Hinton Today

The "Kennedy for President" drive blossomed into a three-pronged affair in Hinton this morning with Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, his younger brother, Ted, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., drumming up voter support for next Tuesday's presidential primary.

Speaking in the Summers County Courthouse Park from the bed of a parked truck, Kennedy assured a crowd estimated by police to number 600 to 700 persons that "if nominated, we'll beat Dick Nixon in November."

After appearing in Hinton at 10:15 and speaking at the Courthouse Park about 11:00, Kennedy and his group stopped briefly in Bellepoint and then motored to Alderson.

At Alderson, Kennedy spoke during the noon hour before a sizeable crowd that was distinguished by students and store workers out for their lunch hour.

During his talk here, Kennedy said: "The single, critical, overriding need of the people of Summers county...is the development of new industry - industry which will bring you new jobs and increased income."

He indicated that one of the "brightest hopes" of meeting this need is the "use of your priceless heritage of natural beauty" to attract tourists from all over the nation.

Kennedy, still nursing an ailing throat, spoke only six minutes following talks by his brother and F. [D. R.) Jr.

Roosevelt depicted Kennedy's Democratic opponent, Sen. Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, as "a straw man - a front man for two or three others who did not dare come here because they would have lost."

"You (the voters) either are going to throw your vote down the drain next week by voting for a straw man or you have a choice of voting for the next president of the United States," he said.

Ted Kennedy promised that "if Jack is successful here (in West Virginia) he will win the nomination..you (the voters) have a chance to do it and you can rest assured you will have a friend in the White House."

In his brief address, the senator himself touched on the economic plight of West Virginians.

"What I see here in your state may be repeated in other parts of the United States unless something is done to prevent it," he said.

The candidate said here that this area has the resources, the streams and woods and lakes necessary to develop a tourist industry. "The Bluestone Park area and the Bluestone River are among the most beautiful and attractive vacation spots in the nation," Kennedy said.

He pointed out, however, that "in the last eight years, this great natural beauty has been allowed to decay."

Only by acting now, he added, can this threatened destruction be halted. He pointed to the forests and parks as having "gone virtually undeveloped" and further stated that increasing pollution has threatened the beauty and heal[th] of the area's rivers.

"First," the candidate said, "we must act to stop the destructive filthying of our lakes and rivers." Growing pollution threatens the Bluestone River, pollution which, unless it is halted, Kennedy said, will destroy its beauty, kill its fish, and make it unsafe for swimming and water skiing.

"Secondly," he added, "we must engage in a vastly expanded federal program to help the states in the development of vital forest and park areas." For example, he explained, Federal Forest Research laboratories might well develop new uses for forest products. "A Democratic Administration will revitalize and expand this program," Kennedy stated.

These programs and many others, he added, "such as watershed development, flood control, and fisheries research are absolutely necessary to the preservation of America's great recreational abundance."

"We intend to meet the challenge," he concluded, "to develop our great national resources so that the people of Summers County and all Americans will benefit fully from the great natural beauty with which their land has been blessed."